# How do they decaffeinate tea and coffee?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decaffeinate-tea-and-coffee/210235>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 29, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decaffeinate-tea-and-coffee/210235 "2003-10-29T15:03:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![naomi2003](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@naomi2003](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naomi2003)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decaffeinate-tea-and-coffee/210235/1 "2003-10-29T15:03:17Z")

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Can anybody tell me what process they use to decaffeinate tea and coffee?

I just don’t see how…

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**Author:** ![Standup\_Karmic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Standup\_Karmic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Standup_Karmic)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decaffeinate-tea-and-coffee/210235/2 "2003-10-29T15:24:27Z")

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How Stuff Works, an excellent resource for questions of this variety.

> **[How are coffee, tea and colas decaffeinated?](https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/question480.htm)**
>
> I love decaffeinated coffee, but I've always wondered how they get the caffeine out of a coffee bean. How are coffee, tea and colas decaffeinated?

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**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decaffeinate-tea-and-coffee/210235/3 "2003-10-29T17:29:31Z")

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The use of CO2 and water are (or at least should be) preferred, as they are “green chemistry” and easier on the environment than either methylene chloride or ethyl acetate.

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**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-decaffeinate-tea-and-coffee/210235/4 "2003-10-29T21:46:11Z")

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Hmm. My local coffee shop takes regular coffee & runs it through a charcoal filter. That’s what he said.